Suppressive effects of aluminum trichloride on the T lymphocyte immune function of rats.

Abstract Aluminum (Al) has increasingly been used in the daily life, and could cause the change of human health because it can accumulate in the organs. A rat model was thus used to examine potential effect of Al on the immune function. Forty male Wistar rats (5 weeks old) weighed 110–120 g were randomly allocated into four groups and were orally exposed to 0, 64.18, 128.36, and 256.72 mg/kg body weight aluminum trichloride (AlCl 3 ) in drinking water for 120 days. The levels of CD3 + , CD4 + , CD8 + T lymphocyte, acid non-specific activity esterase (ANAE + ) in blood, and interleukin-2 (IL-2) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in serum were determined at the end of experiment. The results showed that the proportions of CD3 + , CD4 + T lymphocyte, the ratio of CD4 + /CD8 + , and the levels of ANAE + , IL-2, and TNF-α were significantly reduced in AlCl 3 -treated rats, while the proportion of CD8 + T lymphocyte was increased in an AlCl 3 -dose dependent manner. Our findings indicate that a long term exposure of AlCl 3 could suppress the T lymphocyte immune function of rats.